Your Privacy, Explained

Privacy policies tend to be pretty long – and pretty confusing. That’s why we did our best to make our Privacy Policy brief, clear and easy-to-read!

You should read our entire Privacy Policy, but when you only have a few minutes or want to remember something later on, you can always take a look at this summary – so you can learn or recall some of the basics in just a few minutes.

What we do at Snap

At Snap, our mission is to empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world and have fun together.

To provide our services and make them better, we learn some things about you when you use Snapchat, Bitmoji and our other services. For example, if we know it’s your birthday, we can send you and your friends a Lens or Geofilter to help celebrate! Or, if we see that you’re spending a day at the beach, we can make sure your Bitmoji is dressed for the occasion. Nice, right?

To keep the lights on at Snap HQ, we make money by selling ads. We use some of what we know about you to serve ads you might be interested in – when you might be interested in them. For example, if you’ve been watching a lot of Snaps about fashion on Discover, we might show you ads for the latest style of jeans. Or if you’ve clicked on a bunch of ads for video games, we might keep those ads coming! But we also use your information to avoid showing you ads you probably won’t like. For example, if a ticketing site tells us you’ve already bought tickets for a film – or if you bought them through Snapchat – we can stop showing you ads for it. Learn more.

How we gather information

First, we learn about you when you use our service. So, while you may not tell us you’re a sports fan, if you’re always watching basketball highlights on Discover and your Bitmoji is wearing your team colours, it’s a safe guess.

Second, we learn from whatever information you choose to give us. For example, when you set up a Snapchat account, we learn your birthday, email address and the unique name you’d like to go by.

Third, we sometimes learn about you from other people and services. For example, if a friend uploads their contact list, we might see your phone number. Or, if you tap on an ad for a video game, the advertiser may let us know that you installed it. Learn More.

How we share information

When we share information, it’s usually because you ask us to – like when you want to add a Snap to Our Story or send a Chat to a friend. Some of your information, such as your username and Snapcode, is visible to the public by default.

How we store information

Snapchat is about living in the moment. That's why when you send a Snap or Chat, it's deleted by default after it's viewed or expires. We may still keep messages when you or a friend asks us to, like when you save a message in Chat or a Snap to Memories.

And remember: Snapchatters can always take a screenshot!

Other information may be stored for longer. For example, we store your basic account information until you ask us to delete it. And we’re constantly collecting and updating information about the things you might like and dislike, so we can provide you with better content and advertisements. Learn more.

How you control your information

Want to update your account information or change who can watch your Story or see you on Snap Map? Just go to your settings in the app. Curious about your information that's not in the app? Go here to download your data. If you ever want to leave Snapchat and delete your account for good, we have tools for that, too. Learn more.